This invention relates to vehicle door latches and more particularly to a striker assembly that is attached to a vehicle door jamb pillar and engaged by a door latch when a vehicle door is closed.
Automotive vehicles are typically equipped with a door latch in the end of each door that engages a striker assembly that is secured to the confronting face of a vehicle door jamb pillar at the edge of the door opening. The latch, particularly one for a swinging door, has a fishmouth slot that opens toward the vehicle interior and extends through a cutout in the face plate of the latch. This fishmouth slot guides a striker pin or projection into the interior of the door latch as the vehicle door is closed. As the striker pin travels into the fishmouth slot, it "strikes" or engages an internal, pivotally mounted fork bolt lever that is part of a latching mechanism that is inside the latch housing. The striker pin then rotates the fork bolt lever to a latched position where a portion of the fork bolt lever wraps around the striker pin and closes off the fishmouth slot. The fork bolt lever is typically held in the latched position by a detent lever or pawl that is released by a door handle when the door is opened.
Modern door latch striker assemblies now generally comprise a striker pin that is attached to a bracket usually by a peening operation with the bracket being adapted for attachment to the door jamb pillar. See for instance U.S. Pat. No. 4,941,696 Yamada et al; U.S. Pat. No. 4,981,313 Makamura; U.S. Pat. No. 4,998,759 Peterson et al and U.S. Pat. No. 5,050,917 Hamada et al.
Strap type striker assemblies are also known. These striker assemblies comprise a striker pin that is attached to a door jamb pillar by a U-shaped bracket. The bracket has a substantial base plate and a narrow L-shaped strap that is integrally attached to one side of the base plate. The striker pin has a head that bottoms in a hole in the base plate and a shank that extends through a concentric hole in the end of the narrow strap. The end of the shank is peened to secure the striker pin to the bracket. The head may be preformed or formed in situ at the same time that the shank end is peened.
These prior art strap type striker assemblies have a limited capacity to resist longitudinal loads by the vehicle door latch, particularly the latch bolt lever pulling against the end of the strap which is narrow and punched to provide the concentric hole for the end of the pin shank.